Day 25 - Naples

Naples/Pompeii

Due to paperwork issues with the government (stupid Italy!) we left Sicily late yesterday evening and we made up time at sea so that we should have arrived in port on time in Naples. Except that there were more clearance and paperwork issues at the Naples port courtesy of Italian officials that prevented us from docking for over an hour. We had booked a private tour through a company to take us on a full day tour of Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius that was supposed to meet at the train station at 8 AM. At 7 when the boat was not even docked I knew we weren’t going to make the 8 AM meeting time. I called the emergency contact number on the tour confirmation and told the man that our boat was arriving later than scheduled and we would not be at the station at 8. He told us no problem, to just call him back when our boat was docked and we would see if it was possible to still take the tour or not. The boat docked and I called a couple times and got no answer. We got off the boat and I continued calling (paying a small fortune to use my cell phone in Italy no less) a few more times and got no answer so we just started walking to the train station. About halfway to the train station the tour company finally answered the phone and they told me that there was a grey bus at the boat. WHAT? You want me to go back to the boat?! I tried to pre-coordinate for pick up at our ship twice and was told both times it was not possible to be picked up at our boat and now you are telling me there is a bus waiting at the ship. NOT AMUSED. OK fine. We walk back to the boat and look for the grey van/bus they told us to look for and see nothing. By this time most of the cars waiting to pick up people from our ship had cleared out and there were only a few people left. I called the tour company back and told them I was at my boat, and which boat that was, and there was no one waiting for us that I could see, so could they please contact the driver and ask him to hold a sign or get a better description of his location for us. We were told they would call back. At least 15 minutes or more had passed and still no call back so I had to call them again and try to find out. No answer. Finally at about 9:30, an hour after getting off my boat, the tour company called back and said the van was waiting at the “picnic bar” which is right across from the boat. I told them I didn’t see any picnic bar near our boat but I was ask a taxi driver and find it. I ask a cab driver and he says that bar is about a kilometer and a half down at the other end of the port. Not anywhere near our boat and I told them at least a dozen times which ship I was on. URGH! So we start walking. Shortly after we start walking the actual tour guide calls me and starts yelling at me in Italian wanting to know where we are and why are we not at the picnic bar. I explained to her I am trying to find the picnic bar, that I was told there was someone at my ship and to wait there, which I did for an HOUR before I was told now I needed to be at the picnic bar. She was not pleased and asked me how long until we got to the bus. I told her I have no clue, I’m not familiar with the area and then she demanded I stop a local on the street to ask how far away from the bar we were. When they said probably 5-10 minutes walking so was frustrated and started yelling about how she’d been waiting for us for almost two hours and the people on the bus were all mad they had to sit so long. I told her at that point to forget it and go without us. We didn’t want to go on a tour with a bunch of people all pissed off at us for being late when it was totally not our fault and we did everything the tour company asked of us. We were also getting a little concerned about making it back to our boat in time to set sail now that we were starting out two hours late on a full day tour that was supposed to be 6-8 hours. We said forget it and went back to the boat to decide what to do.
We decided we only had time at this point to do either Pompeii OR Mt Vesuvius, but probably not both. So we chose Pompeii because it was already dreadfully hot out and climbing a volcano in that heat would have been tough. We negotiated a cab far to take us to Pompeii, wait for us for a few hours and then drive us back to the boat. It cost a small fortune but what can you do? Pompeii was interesting, and we had watched a video the night before about it which was helpful. We bought the audio tour headphones but they weren’t very helpful and a tour guide (like we had planned to do!) would have been a lot better. It was so so so hot and it was not stroller friendly AT ALL. Colin refused to walk because he was hot and pushing the stroller was a nightmare. The day was just not what it was supposed to be. At least we were there and we saw it. We were back on the boat in time for a late lunch and then we went and played some bingo, which was a bust, again. Shelby took Colin to the pool while I packed our stuff up to leave the boat the next day. Boy does that job stink! That night Colin went to the final party at the kids club for PJ and pillow fight night. Shelby and I went to the piano bar one last time. Many people were staying on the boat for another ten days of cruising around the Eastern Mediterranean, oh how I wish that was us! The last day on the boat was partially a bust, but the cruise was still amazing and we can’t wait to do it again.